Dragons vs Predators : Extiction
by Xiaahandrus
Summary: Berk was peaceful after the war with the dragons. Life continued, differently, but it did continue. A storm approaches though and with it, the end of that peace and all things... Rating for gore.
1. All is Quiet in Berk

Your first thought when you clicked this fic was probably along the lines of 'Oh no she didn't…'

Oh, yes I did. }

The rating is for violence and gore with possible swearing, read at your own risk.

I also warn: I've only see the movies for both, I haven't managed to read the books yet. Though the Predator books are ordered via eBay and on their way! =D

I would also like to make note that Toothless was the only dragon named in the movie(unless I missed it), but I wanted the others to have names so I named them.

The lovely and extremely talented Aka Pine was kind enough to read this over before I posted it and this is where I'm thanking her profoundly for correcting my mistakes! Thank you again darling!

Words - 2,662

How to Train Your Dragon and Predators belong to their respective owners, I just suck the poor things in fanfiction for the amusement of myself and those reading.

**Chapter I – All is Quiet in Berk**

The war between the dragons and the humans had been over for four years and the two races existed peacefully alongside one another. With the aid of each other both humans and dragons prospered. Life was good, especially for Hiccup who finally found a place he fit in life in the sky on Toothless's back.

The boy and dragon were inseparable, both spending the day in the sky flying both for the joy of it and to help with supplying fish for both humans and dragons to eat. It was as much fun as it was a competition between Hiccup and the rest of the dragon riders his age.

Nights were spent flying alone with Astrid alongside on her Deadly Nadder.

In short, life in Berk was good.

"C'mon bud!" Hiccup called to Toothless over the wind as he and Astrid raced through the sky. It was a nightly occurrence, they would spend the evening meal talking before leaving the Mead Hall to spend time with their respective dragons. Then one or the other would end up in the sky and the other would follow. Some nights the two would simply fly together, enjoying each other's company and the joy of flight.

"Ha!" Astrid called, "You're not winning tonight!" She told him with a grin as she urged her dragon on faster. The Nadder complied by increasing her wing beats in an attempt to catch the Night Fury's slight lead.

Toothless made an amused sound as Hiccup threw a grin over his shoulder to Astrid. He and Toothless could fly rings around Astrid and her Nadder she called Twitch for her odd twitching bob of her head she frequently did. Twitch also had a certain wiggle or twitch for every emotion and thought she had that Astrid was particularly good at reading.

"What do you think bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless as he bent his head close to his partner's ear, "Should we let them win this one?"

In answer Toothless stalled his wings slightly, allowing Astrid and Twitch to draw alongside them. Astrid flashed a triumphant grin at the pair as she and Twitch began to pull ahead. Toothless snorted in amusement before putting on a burst of speed to leave the other pair behind.

Hiccup laughed as Toothless pulled ahead while Twitch squawked in protest as Toothless's wake in the air caused her to falter slightly from the gust. Astrid gave a startled cry at the sudden movement, but there was no fear in the sound. She was securely strapped to Twitch with both the saddle the dragon wore and the harness she wore attached to the saddle.

"I'll get you for that Hiccup!" Astrid called out over the wind to the boys, though there was laughter in her tone. She might punch Hiccup later, but she'd kiss him after.

A grin flashed across Hiccup's face as he and Toothless rapidly climbed into the sky towards the clouds. Astrid would have to find them before she could extract her 'revenge' against the Fury rider, "You'll have to find me first!"

With that Toothless veered to the right and into the nearest cloud with the closest sound a dragon could make to a 'woop.' It was a sound he'd learned from Hiccup that he'd associated with joy and playfulness that he now used himself.

"Not fair!" Astrid called out in return.

A game like this could go on all night. Against the night sky Toothless and Hiccup were hard to spot; against the night sky with clouds made it nearly impossible. Neither Astrid nor Hiccup were really concerned with time though, there was a storm on the horizon that would limit flight time in the following days and both wanted to get as much time in the air as possible.

Night Fury and rider blended with the clouds until they were invisible, a ghost in the darkness of the clouds and sky. Astrid and Twitch remained on the fringes of the cloud, circling around in hopes of catching the boys on their exit from the cloud.

A whoosh just above them had Twitch squawking in surprise and drew a squeal from Astrid as Hiccup and Toothless shot just over their heads. The wind from their passing caused the girls to falter in the air slightly, but it wasn't anything they couldn't quickly recover from.

"After them!" Astrid called out, grinning while pointing over Twitch's shoulder to the shadow moving rapidly away. Twitch flapped her wings twice to regain her bearing before tucking them in to her sides and diving after the Night Fury with a thrill of elation of the chase.

Hiccup grinned over his shoulder as he made out the shadowy form of Astrid and Twitch following after them. The other riders their age didn't join them on their nightly flights primarily because it was a sort of date for Hiccup and Astrid, but also because none of the others could see in the dark half as well as the couple along with their dragons.

Acting as one, Hiccup adjusted his artificial leg to move Toothless's replacement tail fin just as the dragon tilted his head back to climb. The pair rapidly began to climb with Astrid and Twitch quickly altering their course to follow, gaining a bit of air on the boys by doing so.

"Slow down a bit," Hiccup told Toothless as he bent his head next to the dragon's ear, "Let them almost catch up…" He trailed off with a grin, and Toothless rumbled under him with a mixture of amusement and agreement. The chase was half the fun after all…

Toothless slowed his wing beats ever so slightly to allow the girls to gain on them just a bit. Twitch uttered a triumphant thrill as she gained on the Night Fury, but just as she was within nipping distance of his tail Toothless ducked a wing in to his body and swerved sharply to the side.

Twitch flapped her wings rapidly and swerved to follow the boys just in time to see them vanish into another cloud. She uttered a disappointed, yet amused sound as Astrid uttered a half hearted war cry as she grinned. The hunt was on again!

"C'mon Twitch," Astrid bent down along her dragon's neck to urge her on, "Let's try circling around again." It worked once anyway, who's to say it wouldn't work again?

The Nadder trilled her agreement as she increased the beat of her wings to try to circle around to head the boys off. Toothless and Hiccup were one step ahead of the girls' plan as they executed a tight loop and changed directions, exiting the cloud on the same side they entered. Hiccup adjusted the tailfin and the two began to rapidly climb.

After gaining enough height, they began to circle, looking for Astrid and Twitch from their superior altitude. For the two of them cloudy nights were the ultimate game of hide and seek. The wind had picked up though as the storm got closer, which made navigating the skies just a bit more challenging. The winds were far from being dangerous yet, but neither Hiccup nor Astrid would risk staying out so long that they might endanger their dragon partners.

Visibility worked both ways though, neither Toothless or Hiccup could make out the forms of Astrid and Twitch. They continued to search for several minutes, then began to slowly descend from their higher vantage point in hopes of having better luck. It didn't matter if they spotted the girls or if the girls spotted them, it was all in the name of fun. Truth be told, Hiccup half hoped Astrid would spot them first since it would help with her wounded pride and might just get him out of getting punched in the arm.

"See anything bud?" Hiccup asked the dragon as he leaned over Toothless's neck so that his face was near the dragon's ears. Toothless made a murmuring sound and snorted with a slight shake of his head to indicate he did not. He had picked up several human conveyances from Hiccup over the past several months.

Several more minutes passed and Hiccup was beginning to get just a bit worried when something whizzed over the boys' heads and the air wake caused the two of them to falter. Toothless grunted with surprise as he flapped his wings rapidly to level himself back out.

"Ha!" Astrid called out as Twitch curved back around to fly beside the Night Fury, "Payback!" She called to him with a grin that Hiccup returned. It was only fair since Toothless had done the same thing to Twitch earlier.

Hiccup opened his mouth to reply when a sudden gust of wind almost knocked Toothless into Twitch. The Night Fury grunted then rapidly pumped his wings to right himself as Twitch squawked in protest, both from Toothless's near bump into her and the gust of wind. Astrid gave a startled yelp at Twitch's sudden movement, but righted herself readily enough.

The two dragons and riders only then noticed they had lost enough altitude to fall beneath the clouds. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but with the storm coming in the winds and the sea were unpredictable mistresses.

"C'mon!" Hiccup called out to Astrid over the sudden increase in the wind, "We need to get above the clouds!" He finished, adjusting the tailfin and pulling up on the front of the saddle to get Toothless to climb. He wasn't sure if Astrid had actually heard him over the wind, but Twitch was following anyway.

It was a bit of a fight to get above the clouds, but once above them the skies were calm. Even the stars were visible above as the two dragons and their riders burst through the cloud cover and into the much calmer air. Getting back down to the ground would be a bit of an adventure, for now though it would be smooth sailing.

"How long until the storm is too bad to land?" Astrid called out to Hiccup as she directed Twitch to fly closer to Toothless so she didn't have to shout as loud.

"Not too long," Hiccup called back, "We should probably…" He trailed off as movement in the sky above him caught his attention. It was gone as soon as he looked towards the movement, but the mystery was soon solved as another star streaked briefly across the sky.

"Look!" Hiccup cried out excitedly as he pointed in the general direction the two stars had fallen in. Astrid followed his instruction as she turned her head just in time to see two stars streak across the sky at the same time. A smile stretched across her face in awe at the sight, they saw the aurora in the northern sky all the time, but shooting stars were much rarer.

The pair flew in near silence for a while besides the occasional sound of awe or calling out to one another to look at this or that star. They would have likely stayed in the air half the night if Toothless hadn't finally made a sudden downward dip that shook Hiccup out of his fascination of the stars.

"Thanks bud," Hiccup murmured to Toothless who made a wordless, amused sounding murmur in reply. He cupped a hand to his mouth to help his voice carry as he turned to the Deadly Nadder flying beside them, "Astrid!" The sound of her name got the girl's attention as she looked at Hiccup, "We need to land! As close at the storm is the winds will make it harder to land! Follow me and Toothless and rely on Twitch, she'll know what she's doing!"

Astrid nodded in reply and gave Hiccup and thumbs up expression to let him know she understood. With that Hiccup turned back to Toothless and let him direct them, the dragon would know where they were in the skies better than he would. Toothless trilled to Twitch and the Nadder answered with a trill of her own right before Toothless folded his wings and dropped.

The quick descent caused the air to whistle over the Night Fury and his boy to make the screaming whistle Night Furies were known for. The sound was quickly drowned out by the near roar of the wind and crash of the waves against the island as the pair neared the village.

Toothless partly spread his wings to take in some of the wind which quickly buffeted the two boys as they made for Hiccup's House. Twitch called out with a thrill behind them as she rapidly flapped her wings and landed safely outside Astrid's house. Knowing that the girls had landed safely the boys rode the winds for just a few more moments before they too landed.

Sliding from the saddle, Hiccup went for the door as fast as he could and pushed it open before ducking inside. Toothless slipped in just behind him and stood panting slightly from exertion after the wild landing as Hiccup bodily pushed the door closed and shut out the wind.

"Well," Hiccup began as he turned and started unsaddling Toothless, "That was quite a ride, huh bud?" He asked the dragon who grunted in reply and shook himself all over as Hiccup pulled the saddle off and set it on a rack by the door.

"Hiccup?" A deep voice asked as Stoick the Vast poked his head out of his bed room, "Cut it a little close there didn't you son?" He asked, gesturing to the wall to indicate the wind howling around the house outside.

"Eh," Hiccup answered with a shrug, "It wasn't too bad dad. We landed without any trouble," He reassured his father, "We got above the clouds to avoid the wind for a while and got distracted by falling stars. It's not too often you see those in Berk."

Stoick grunted in acknowledgement as he frowned slightly, "A storm's not something to trifle with Hiccup…" Said boy sighed as he made the effort not to roll his eyes, but his father caught the sigh, "I'm serious son, men and dragons alike have enough to fear from a storm without tempting fate."

"I know dad," Hiccup replied as he made for the stairs to go to his room, "G'night dad. Night Toothless," He told the two of them as he climbed the stairs up to his room, working on the buckles for his riding harness as he went.

"Night son," Stoick responded as he retreated into his own room and Toothless thrilled after Hiccup.

The storm would blow through the night and through the next day, keeping men and dragons alike indoors out of the weather. Hiccup quickly forgot about the falling stars as he drew pictures of Toothless and came up with new saddle designs for other dragons to occupy his time.

Little did Hiccup and the rest of Berk know, stars were not the only things to fall that night…

I apologize if some of this reads a bit funny, I'm out of practice writing in third person as I normally use first…

Thanks for reading! =D


	2. After the Storm

**Chapter II – After the Storm**

During the raging of the storm while the residents of Berk huddles inside, the truth of a long forgotten legend passed over the island. They were hunters of an ancient order whose way of life and honor depended solely on the Hunt.

And they had found their prey.

Three short explosions came from the side of the great metal ship that served as the Hunters' transport. The Hunters did not fear anyone hearing the explosions and becoming aware of their presence, the sound was lost amid the storm's thunder. The three pods landed amid the trees, leaving small craters from their impact that quickly began to fill with water from the rain.

The three hunters stepped forth, climbing out of the craters and onto level ground. They gathered together as the wind whipped their thick dreadlocks about. A few clicks and growls were exchanged among the trio before they turned and vanished into the trees and rain.

Their prey would not be moving in this weather and would not provide much of a Hunt until after it was over. They would need to eat then and that was when they would strike. For now they would seek shelter for themselves and wait, preparing themselves for the coming Hunt and battles that would ensue.

Two days after flying with Astrid, Hiccup was glad to wake up next to Toothless and not hear the storm raging outside. The fire had kept their home warm enough, but it could never compete with the heat a dragon put off due to the inner fire. Stoick had even elected to sleep leaning against the dragon's side for warmth.

Hiccup covered a yawn with one hand while extending his other arm in a stretch. Feeling his human's wakefulness, Toothless also stirred, raising his head and yawning before gazing sleepily at Hiccup.

"Morning bud," Hiccup greeted the dragon with a smile.

Toothless murmured in his throat and offered his own signature gummy smile that was his namesake in return to Hiccup. Stoick had also awakened at hearing his son speak and feeling the dragon behind him move. The great Viking yawned and stretched much like his son had before rolling to his feet.

"Morning Dad," Hiccup greeting his father as he got to his feet and stretched again, this time reaching both hands toward the ceiling and arching his back. Dropping his arms back to his sides he shook himself and moved to pull on fresh clothes followed by his flying harness. His gait still hitched from his own prosthetic limb that had brought him closer to his dragon companion.

"Mornin' son," The Viking answered, Stoick still felt a twinge of guilt every time he saw Hiccup walk knowing he was partly responsible for his injury. Hiccup might not blame him, but Stoick would probably always blame himself.

Toothless got up as Hiccup finished buckling on his flying harness and walked over to stand beside the rack their saddle was set out on. The dragon looked at his human expectantly as Hiccup double check the buckles on his harness.

"Alright bud, I'm coming," Hiccup told the dragon with a grin. Grabbing the saddle, he hefted it onto the dragon's shoulders as Toothless crouched slightly to make it easier on his human. Hiccup wasn't a great muscular Viking after all and Toothless knew that, in the dragon's mind his human was built for flying.

With a little help from him of course.

Toothless also knew that he wouldn't be able to fly without Hiccup. He belonged to the human as much as Hiccup belonged to him. He turned his head slightly to watch as Hiccup buckled the saddle in place followed by the now red tail fin and then the lines that tied the fin to where Hiccup's prosthetic leg would control its movement.

The dragon was beginning to grow impatient as Hiccup double checked the buckles, straps, and lines. Toothless didn't know why Hiccup felt the need to do that every time they saddled up, he always got them right the first time, there was no need to double check them. He shifted restlessly and snorted as he tugged against Hiccup's hands toward the door. Not only was Toothless ready to get out of the confines of the Viking house, but the dragon was _hungry_.

With the storms bad enough that no one was out fishing what was caught was all there was. It wasn't that the dragons were starving, but the remaining fish had been rationed and distributed by a dragon's breed and size. None of them had starved of course, but they had all wanted more to eat.

Hiccup chuckled as he made for the door, following Toothless as the dragon bounded forward. The dragon wiggled like an eager puppy at the door as he looked back and forth from Hiccup to the door.

"See you later dad!" Hiccup called over his shoulder with a wave as he pushed the door open to let Toothless out as he followed his dragon. Stoick only offered a wave in return since the door shut before he could have answered, that was alright though, he would see Hiccup in the Mead Hall at noon and dusk for meals.

Toothless crouched for Hiccup to get on though it was an effort for the Night Fury to keep still for eagerness to be in the sky. It was also a bit more difficult for Hiccup to get on the dragon, he couldn't just vault on as he used to. Instead he had to partially pull himself on almost like mounting a horse and always from the right side so he could push off the ground with his remaining foot.

The click of Hiccup clipping his harness to the saddle was music to Toothless's ears as he launched himself skyward an instant after hearing it. The Night Fury's wings pumped hard as he pushed himself vertically into the sky, even a day was too long in Toothless's mind to be stuck on the ground.

Hiccup had anticipated Toothless's need to fly and was ready for the quick take off as he gripped the front of the saddle. It was also nice to get out of the fog that had blanketed the village and island around it. That would make it difficult hunting for the Vikings on foot though those on a dragon would face more a challenge than usual as well.

Very few other dragons and riders were up yet as Hiccup saw few others in the sky as Toothless leveled out, heading along the island's western coast. The dragon was obviously looking for some fish to catch to eat. Toothless's love of fish never ceased to make the boy smile. Fish were the most plentiful and readily available food for the dragons, but most of the other preferred other meats now and again.

Except Toothless.

"Two guesses on what you're hunting for," Hiccup told the dragon as he too watched the sea. He couldn't see fish like Toothless could, but the dragon appreciated the effort. It was much the same as Toothless trying to feed Hiccup part of a fish. The boy wouldn't eat a fish the dragon had already swallowed, but Hiccup still appreciated the gesture.

Toothless answered with an amused murmur in his throat before dropping into a sharp dive. At the last instant before they hit the water he braked hard and thrust his head forward into the water. He flapped his wings hard as his jaws closed around the fish and he pulled it from the water. Gaining a bit of height, Toothless jerked his head particularly and swallowed the fish whole before leveling back out to continue fishing.

He would even catch one for Hiccup and maybe he wouldn't swallow it before giving it to him this time.

A grizzled Viking in the forest had watched the Night Fury and Hiccup in the sky before they dove and disappeared from his sight behind the trees. He grunted in indifference though he still thought it was a bit unnatural for Vikings and humans to live together.

He stroked his beard, black shot through with a bit of gray, perhaps he was too old for such changes though. The youngsters seemed to be adapting well enough, in dragon training they no longer learned the art of slaying dragons but how to _ride_ the beasts. It was certainly a switch.

Havvick Hoar-Blood would never do such a thing.

Shrugging massive shoulders while shaking his head, the old warrior turned and proceeded along the much used game trail to check his traps. Havvick very much doubted that the storm hadn't fouled them up, but there was a chance there might be something and he'd need to reset them or repair them as necessary.

Lumbering along, the Viking somewhat resembled a great horned bear with his horned helmet and the brown furs and clothes of his clothing. Havvick reached his first snare and grunted in annoyance to find that one of the braces holding it open had blown down.

He reset the snare, noting that several fresh sets of tracks in the mud of the trail meant he had missed several potential catches. Havvick continued on his way toward the next snare, slightly annoyed at how much more hunting and trading Berk was having to do to feed its new inhabitants.

Other villages, especially Viking villages, were wary when they discovered that the residents of Berk now lived alongside and even rode dragons. There was very little true acceptance of the dragons and some had gone as far as hostility and refusing to come to Berk's harbor.

They thought it was unnatural too.

Havvick comforted himself with that thought. Maybe he would volunteer to start accompanying the ships when they went to trade with neighboring villages to get away from the dragons. Stoick had started sending out more trading vessels and building more ships to do so since they had lost some of the traffic to their own harbor.

Some still wouldn't trade with a Berk vessel, but some were still glad of the business as long as there were no dragons with them.

Reaching the next snare, Havvick frowned at it. The thing was completely broken with the line snapped. Sighing, the aging Viking knelt down to attend to the problem picking up the snare to examine the damage. His frown deepened as he noticed the exceptionally clean break, almost as if something had cut it…

Havvick twitched slightly as the bushes behind him rattled. His hand automatically went to the axe at his side as he turned toward the bushes, getting back to his feet in the same move. He waited for several moments before deciding it must have been a rabbit or squirrel and turned back to the snare.

As Havvick turned his back though, a low, rattling growl sounded out behind him…

Riley knew her dad didn't much care for the idea of humans and dragons living and flying together, but that hadn't stopped her from wanting one of her own. At first she had been as wary of the idea as her father until she had met Killer.

Walking around the corner of building and ending up face to snout with a Monstrous Nightmare was enough to make nearly anyone nervous. At first Riley had been so surprised she had reacted at all, which the Nightmare had apparently taken as some sort of sign and hadn't left her alone since. At first Riley hadn't been thrilled with the dragon following her around, but eventually she relented and the pair had been inseparable ever since.

She had named him Killer since Riley thought a Monstrous Nightmare should have a name to suit him. Plus she thought is sounded cooler than something like Snotmare or whatever Snotlout had named his dragon. Riley thought he had been trying to name it after himself and was trying to be clever by adding the 'mare' part of Nightmare.

Riley thought Killer looked much more ferocious that Snotmare with his darker coloring anyway. He was the darkest colored Monstrous Nightmare in the village, being nearly black with just a hint of red before shading to a cream underside. Only Hiccup's Night Fury was darker in color, though that made sense since Toothless was black after all.

Her father had already left to check his snares by the time Riley rolled out of bed at Killer's insistence. The great beast was hungry and eager to get in the air and hunt something to eat. Most of the Vikings partnered with dragons would be out hunting today since the food stores were low.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'" Riley told Killer, feigned annoyance with amusement lacing her voice. Pulling on fresh clothes and her flying harness she followed Killer where he stood beside the rack that held her saddle and began saddling the dragon up.

It sometimes hurt Riley's feelings that her father was so against the dragons. Havvick wasn't the only one though, there were others in the village who didn't like the idea of humans and dragons working together and probably never would. He and the other old timers had begun talking of signing up to go out with the ships to trade to get away from the beasts.

It was a practical idea, but Havvick rarely spoke to Riley anymore. Before she and Killer had bonded they had been close and his absence made her feel alone sometimes even if now she had the rest of the Vikings to fly with. Killer was also a big help as the dragon only had eyes for her, he'd even snapped at a couple people for bumping into her.

Killer rumbled eagerly as Riley fastened the last of the straps and opened the door. The Monstrous Nightmare slipped out and Riley followed, closing the door behind her. Killer lowered himself slightly for Riley to spring onto his back and then crouched, eagerly awaiting the signal that let him know his human was ready.

They had worked that system out after Killer being too eager to get flying when he had taken off too soon. Riley had only been partially hooked in, the first case causing her to roll down her dragon's back to the ground and the second case causing her to nearly slip off one side or the other.

Such a thing also prompted Riley to be quicker to hook in as well.

"Ready Killer?" She asked as she secured herself to the dragon via the saddle. Killer turned his head to look back at her and offered an eager growl with a dip of his head. Riley grinned in reply, the corners of her brown eyes crinkling as she leaned forward and touched her heels to his scales with just enough force for him to feel, "Then let's go!"

Killer uttered a slight snarl of eagerness before pushing himself into the air. He flapped hard to gain height and get clear of the buildings before leveling off and heading along the eastern coast without Riley directing him. She knew that Killer knew what he was doing hunting wise and was content to let the dragon do as he pleased.

He was in fact, looking to see what washed up due to the storm. He wasn't much of picky eater and Killer knew that whatever had washed up probably hadn't been there long and would most likely still be fresh enough to still be tasty. There was also the option of getting Riley to go fishing and cooking fish for him, Killer enjoyed the taste of cooked fish as a dessert.

Flying along the shore yielded no results, but halfway to the northern point of the island the scent of blood caused Killer to snort and veer inland. Usually where there was blood there was food and Killer's stomach was all for finding food right now.

Riley sat back to enjoy the view and the feel of the wind in her hair. It would be a mess when they landed, but she had learned a few tricks already to manage her wild brown locks. Killer's sudden veer inland confused her slightly, but Riley shrugged it off without much thought. He might've smelled something.

When the dragon began to descend her frown deepened though, Riley knew this clearing. It was along her father's trapping lines, she'd helped him with them many times. Killer landed in said clearing, sniffing loudly before snorting at the scent of blood he now identified as human.

A gasp from his human had the dragon turning his head to look at her, making an inquiry noise as he turned his head. Riley wasn't looking at Killer though, she was staring in horror at the skinned corpse hanging from a tree.

* * *

><p><strong>I offer my most sincere apologies for taking so long, my computer's hard drive cash and I lost everything including this chapter and the next. Luckily I remembered I emailed this chapter to a friend to read so it was still sitting in my email. <strong>**It'll probably be a while with the next chapter unfortunately...**

**I have seen the new How to Train Your Dragon short film that named a couple of the dragons, but I decided not to change what I've named the dragons in this story. It's called fanfiction for a reason so I don't feel too bad about changing their names.**

**The characters Riley and Killer aren't actual characters from any of the books or movies that I'm aware of, they're a nod to my friend Riley Killer. She was very excited to know her namesake's fates! XD**

**Cookies to anyone who recognizes where part of Havvick Hoar-Blood's name comes from!**


	3. First Contact

**DVP – III – First Contact**

Toothless and Hiccup had a successful morning fishing for Toothless's breakfast and now had a cheery fire burning where Hiccup roasted a fish for his own breakfast. Toothless selected another fish from the pile and tossed his head back to swallow it whole in a single gulp.

The Night Fury was just reaching for another fish when an ear splitting scream tore through the air, causing both Toothless and Hiccup to jerk in surprise. Both sat frozen, their gazes turned inland as they listened a moment before Hiccup lurched to his feet, "C'mon bud."

Toothless also rose in one smooth, fluid motion and came to stand beside Hiccup before crouching. Hiccup hopped into the saddle and clipped himself in before leaning forward and silently urging Toothless into the sky.

The dragon complied with powerful wing beats that had him surging nearly vertical to avoid the cliff face and then a bit higher still to avoid the trees. A sudden gust of wind granted the dragon a burst of speed and sent then both streaking over the forest in search of the scream's origin.

When they did not immediately find the scream's source, Hiccup urged Toothless higher and the dragon read the rest of his human's intention and began a sweeping pattern with both pairs of keen green eyes searching for anything unusual.

A Monstrous Nightmare coiled in the middle of a clearing would do it.

Toothless tilted his wings to get a bit of a rise before tucking them back to drop in a speed generating dive. It wasn't a striking speed of a dive, but a soft whistle that was trademark of a Night Fury's dive began to sound. Before the sound could build in volume Toothless flared his wings followed by two back strokes before dropping to the ground.

The Monstrous Nightmare's head whipped toward them with lips drawn back to display a very impressive set of teeth as a snarl was given in warning. Toothless arched his back and flared his wings with a hiss, very clearing telling the Monstrous Nightmare that he wasn't a bit worried about _him._

Hiccup's attention was on the form of a girl sitting on her knees on the ground with a blank expression on her tear streaked face. He racked his brain as he tried to recall the girl's name. She lived on the opposite side of the village from him and had been in an altogether different dragon slaying class so Hiccup hadn't ever had any contact with her.

Something with an R… Rika? Rilla? Riley? _Riley._ That was it! And her dragon's name was Killer. He'd actually recognized the dragon first, there weren't many Monstrous Nightmares that were nearly black and so scarred up as hers. That had marked the dragon as a fighter, but there hadn't been any more complaints against him as there were against any other dragon.

The Monstrous Nightmare grumbled and flattened his previously flared spines. There was no way he was getting into it with a Night Fury, particularly not _this_ Night Fury. Toothless was as much a legend and paradox among dragons as Hiccup was amongst Vikings. All dragons owed him for helping free them from the Great One and for ending the war, yet the pact entered with the humans was still a strange one.

Seeing the Toothless had convinced Killer to back down, Hiccup swung off his back and walked towards Riley warily. Toothless followed behind him after a moment, keeping an eye on the Monstrous Nightmare, Toothless understood the urge to protect one's human from another dragon. It wouldn't do for one to allow another to steal one's human after all.

Hiccup made a half circle to make sure he was partially in Riley's line of sight, if he recalled correctly, the girl detested being snuck up on and had been known to use her fists to make her displeasure known. She didn't even acknowledge him when he came to stand in front of her, Hiccup blinked, "Riley? Are you alright?"

His tone was similar to what a person might use to calm a frightened horse, or dragon maybe, but it was enough for her eyes to move to meet his. She blinked, more tear running down her cheeks before her eyes recognized Hiccup and the blank look turned to anger as she shot to her feet, "Do I look alright to you!"

Raising his hands, Hiccup took a step back to attempt to ward off her anger. Riley took another step, hands clenching into fists as if she just might hit Hiccup as the boy stuttered to answer, "I-I heard a scream! Was it you? Are you hurt?"

Killer growled in response to his human's anger as hot yellow eyes fixed on Hiccup as the cause. Toothless hissed in response and stepped between the Nightmare and the two humans. Hiccup was good at talking, he would talk the female down if Toothless could keep the other dragon from getting involved.

Riley deflated at Hiccup's questions and her hands dropped loosely to her sides and she stared at the ground, "I'm not hurt…"

Hiccup stood still and silent for a long moment, waiting for Riley to continue. When she didn't appear to be going to, he swallowed and prompted her to continue, "Then… Why did you scream?"

There was another pregnant pause before Riley looked to the edge of the clearing then winced before looking back to the ground. He next words emerged in a soft broken voice, "Because that's my father."

Hiccup blinked, then swallowed before turning his gaze in the same direction she had glanced. He blinked once, twice as his brain scrambled to process what he was seeing. It was a _body_ strung up in a tree skinned like an animal was for its fur. Hiccup jerked his head away and swallowed several times to keep his breakfast from coming back up.

Breathing deeply through his nose, Hiccup pointedly did _not_ look back at Havvick Hoar-Blood. Instead he focused on Riley's defeated looking form. Drawing in another breath he spoke, carefully as if she were a deer he was trying not to spook, "I'm sorry Riley. We can't stay here, _what_ever it is could still be here-"

"Then it should come out and _fight me_!" Riley snarled at Hiccup, taking an aggressive step forward and balling up her fists.

Hiccup raised his hands again and took another step back, "We have to warn the village!"

That stopped her. She swallowed, her father was already dead, there wasn't anything she could do for him except ensure he had a proper burial. Riley did have friends in Berk that she wanted to see safe and protected. Part of her believed that her friends and their dragons were more than capable of protecting themselves. At the same time a small voice whispered that if _something_ had done _this_ to her _father_, of all people, then what was to stop _it_ from doing the same to them?

Sucking in a deep, stabilizing breath, Riley met Hiccup's eyes and nodded, "Right," She agreed, "Let's go."

Hiccup nodded in return, relieved she was willing to go without too much of a fight. Both humans made their way to their dragon counterparts sides and climbed aboard. Toothless surged into the sky first, quickly outstripping the slower Monstrous Nightmare in a show of speed and strength.

"Easy bud," Hiccup murmured next to Toothless's ear fin, "We don't want to leave them too far behind."

Toothless grumbled a bit, but chose to listen to his human. Slowly his wing beats, Toothless allowed Killer and Riley to draw close enough to use his draft to cut down on wind resistance. It also allowed for Killer to get a bit more speed.

The four made good time getting back to Berk, Toothless privately scorning having to wait on the dragon that dared snarl at _his_ human. Toothless at first made for his and Hiccup's den, but Hiccup urged him on, towards the docks.

Hiccup normally would not have gone down to the docks, especially with Toothless in tow and even more so while_ riding_ Toothless. Word had spread about Berk's alliance with the dragons and many other Viking villages and other merchants they trading with were highly uncomfortable with the dragons around. Some were indifferent to the dragons, some refused to trade any longer, and some declared outright hostility. There hadn't been attacks… Yet, but word did travel that some villages were preparing for war.

As Toothless's and Killer's shadows fell over the people below, they looked up. Foreigners gave shrieks of alarms and scrambled away, faster still as good natured voices called out mockingly, "Night Fury! Get down!"

Such a cry did nothing to reassure the traders, some who went as far as to leap into the sea as the Vikings laughed at their private joke and made a space for Toothless and Killer to land. Stoick stood at the edge of the ring of people that Toothless and Hiccup landed in, frowning heavily at his son.

Killer landed with a hiss and a showing of teeth at the people he considered to be close. He wasn't friendly to anyone besides Riley at the best of times and after seeing how distraught his human had been over the death of her sire, the Nightmare was even grumpier than normal.

Toothless wasn't worried about so many humans about, especially with Hiccup there. Folding his wings, he regarded Stoick with a calm expression despite the disapproval he was projecting. Stoick belonged to Hiccup since he was Hiccup's father and Hiccup belonged to Toothless so Stoick, in Toothless's mind, belonged to him too and should be protected just as Hiccup was.

"Hiccup," Stoick greeted his son, with a slightly puzzled, disapproving look, "Son, you know the rules. No dragons-"

"I know dad," Hiccup interrupted him, causing Stoick's frown to deepen, "Toothless and I were flying inland," Hiccup left about the part about hearing Riley scream, Astrid would have hit him for telling people if she had screamed, so he assumed Riley would too, "When we saw Riley and Killer on the ground, something didn't seem right so we went to investigate. And… And…"

"And they found what I found," Riley said, not looking at anyone, her voice hollow.

A pregnant pause followed, before Stoick prompted her, "What did you find Riley?"

Riley closed her eyes a moment as a wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows, "I found my father," She whispered, "He was strung up in a tree skinned like a deer."

Silence followed her statement broken by the calls of gulls and the slap of the waves against the docks. Stoick sucked in an audible breath as the silence broke and murmurs ran through the assembled Vikings as they passed the news one to the other.

Stoick's eyebrows drew together as he frowned, "You're sure?"

"Yes," She whispered, "His axe lay broken on the ground near his… body," Riley hesitated over the last word as she closed her eyes. She would not cry in front them. Killer rumbled with dissatisfaction at his human's discomfort and shifted closer to her, lifting his upper lip to bare his teeth at the nearby Vikings.

Stoick was silent for several long moments, digesting the information. To say it was an unusual circumstance would be putting it lightly. Thoughts and plans flitted quickly through his head and the necessary means to carry them out.

"I am sorry for your loss Riley," Stoick spoke at last, "We will all grieve for the loss of so great a warrior," Riley's eyes closed at that, her chin trembling though no tears fell, "Go to the village elder and make preparations for your father's pyre to be made."

"Yes sir," Riley whispered in reply before climbing onto Killer's back and urging him into the air. Only once she was high enough that none would be able to see her face did Riley let her tears fall, her shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs of anger and grief. She managed to direct Killer towards the elder's home on the outskirts of the village rather than her own, Riley wasn't so concerned with letting one old woman see her tears as she was letting the entire village do so.

Back at the docks Stoick turned to the rest of the assembled Vikings, normally such a meeting would take place at the Mead Hall, since they were all there he would address them now, "Everyone!" Stoick's voice boomed across the harbor, causing even the gulls to fall silent, "Someone has struck down one of our own! This is a grievous offence that will not be forgiven!" Stoick paused as the shouts of agreement went up in the crowd, "We will be ready when they strike again! Make ready for battle!"

The harbor positively roared with agreement at that as people returned to their appointed tasks. Almost automatically some Vikings split off to man the forges to ready weapons and armor while the rest stayed to unload the ships double time. Berk was no stranger to battle and would be ready when it came calling again.

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><p><strong>Many apologies for taking soooo long to update!<strong>

**First, my computer hard drive crashed and the original chapter three... gone. Because I'm an idiot who didn't back her stuff up. Second, school/work kept me extremely busy plus no computer. Then, I get a computer, get working on this, and have more issues. I take my computer to the Computer Guy and guess what? Hard drive crashed. Luckily I had stuff back up this time.**

**This is shorter than the original, but better in my opinion. The next one will be up when I manage to get it written! =)**


	4. Preparations

**DVP – IV – Preperations**

"Hiccup," Stoick called out to his son as he took a step closer so he wouldn't have to shout to be heard over the sounds of the harbor and Vikings making ready for battle, "I need you to go to Gobber's smithy and tell him what has happened. He may have more ideas. We'll also direct any returning dragons and riders to you there so you can organize them, you know them best. I need sweeps of the island. Get groups moving along the coast to see if you can find any ships…"

It all came out in a bit more of a rush than Hiccup was used to his father speaking before trailing off at the end. It took Hiccup a moment to realize that his father was _seeing_ him and making use of him because he was who he was. Determination straightened Hiccup's posture and squared his shoulders as he listened to his father's orders.

"Ravenscar Hollow and Wolfskull Cove would be the best places to start," Stoick continued, too lost in thought to notice the change in Hiccup, "Check the sandbar near Dim Hollow Cave too, if someone beached a ship there during the storm they'd have to wait until the tide rose to get it off again." Stoick paused and grumbled under his breath before continuing, "Look for places a camp could be made, you would know those places better than I would."

Stoick finished, looking at Hiccup for conformation about the last bit. Hiccup did spend a lot of time flying and before that he spent a lot of time roaming the forests, caves, and hollows the Meridian of Misery had to offer a young boy.

Hiccup nodded with a twitch of a smile appearing for an instant despite the seriousness of the situation. It was rare that anyone knew anything about Berk or the island that its chief did not. "You got it dad," Hiccup answered as he sung onto Toothless's back, "We'll have the whole island scoured by nightfall, if anyone's here we'll find them."

"Good luck son."

"You too dad."

Toothless snorted in agreement before surging into the air with a powerful sweep of his wings. The pair quickly rose above Berk, scanning for any dragons who were back. There were very few as many had to venture far abroad in order to find food and to not cross paths while hunting. Toothless called out to those back with a rippling roar that caused the dozen or so dragons to raise their heads in acknowledgement and answer with their own cries. Toothless replied and tucked a wing to head for Gobbers smithy as the other dragons took to the air.

"Thanks bud," Hiccup told Toothless, brushing a hand over the dragon's cheek below the ear fin in added, silent thanks. Toothless replied with a low purr that Hiccup could feel, but not hear.

Back winging, Toothless dropped to the beaten ground around the smithy. Used to be, Viking feet kept what little grass beaten down from their constant trips to get weapons and armor repaired. Now, both Viking and dragon feet kept the grass from growing as Vikings and dragons came to get riding harnesses and saddles repaired by either Gobber or Hiccup.

"Gobber!" Hiccup called out as he swung off of Toothless's back, "Gobber are you up yet?" Hiccup called again as he stepped inside the smithy. Since there were no longer dragon raids to worry about, the peg legged smith stayed up later into the night(usually drinking) and got up later in the day. It wasn't too big of a deal, the whole village got to sleep more than they used to.

"Not so loud…" Came the sleepy reply as Gobber emerged from a back room of the smithy where he lived. Gobber ran a hand down his face in an attempt to alleviate some of the sleepiness that clung to his face. He was also mildly hung over, quite a feat for a Viking like Gobber who drank regularly and in great quantities.

"What is it lad?" Gobber asked, his voice still rough from sleep as he poured a morning mug of mead.

Hiccup rolled his eyes with a half-smile at Gobber's solution to alleviate his hangover by consuming even _more_ mead. Mentally shrugging such an observation off, Hiccup's smile dropped off his face as his eye brows drew together, "Dad sent me up to tell you to get the fires going and prepare for battle."

That certainly got Gobber's attentions.

The mug of mead stopped halfway to Gobber's lips as he turned his head to give Hiccup a puzzled look, "Has one of the other clans finally declared war then?"

It was no secret that several Viking clans would no longer associate with Berk, some to the point of open hostility, due to their friendship with the dragons. While not all the dragons had decided to make their home in Berk, those few were sometimes responsible for a few sheep disappearing from other villages. They dared not attack Berk since said village was under the protection of their own dragons.

"We don't know," Hiccup whispered softly, looking down as he shifted his weight on his artificial foot. Drawing in a deep breath, he recounted that morning's events to Gobber.

"It started this morning right after me and Toothless finished breakfast," Hiccup began, "We heard," He paused a moment, he hadn't told his dad about the scream, but his dad had been in front of the entire village and Gobber was not, "A scream and went to investigate. When we got there…" Hiccup swallowed as he looked back into the memory, "When we got there, we found that Riley girl who rides the really dark Monstrous Nightmare. She was just standing there, she looked like she was lost in thought or something. But, she was… She was…" Hiccup swallowed again as the image of Havvick's skinned corpse hanging in the tree flashing through his mind's eye, "She was staring at Havvick Hoar-Blood's skinned corpse!"

The last part came out in a rush as Hiccup shuddered and clenched his hands as he swallowed rapidly to keep breakfast from coming back up. Toothless nudged his head under his human's arm to try to comfort his human while the other dragons looked on, some shifting restlessly. They could tell something bad had happened if not exactly what.

Gobber stared at Hiccup in stunned silence for several moments, his hangover a bitter memory, "You're sure lad?"

"Yes," Hiccup replied softly as he ran a hand over Toothless's smooth scales for comfort.

"By Thor's Hammer!" Gobber swore vehemently. The smith half turned as he debated on what needed done first in the forge, "Hiccup, I'm going to need you to-"

"Hiccup!"

A thrill followed the call as Astrid and Twitch landed outside the smithy amid the dragons already gather there. Hiccup and Toothless turned to pair as Astrid swung from Twitch's back and jogged forward, a frown on her face and eyebrows drawn together with worry.

"What's going on?" She demanded with a nod to Gobber in greeting as she waited for Hiccup to answer.

Hiccup sighed, not wanting to repeat the story yet again but knowing he would have to, "Toothless and I heard a scream after we finished breakfast and when we investigated we found Riley where she found her father's skinned corpse."

It all came out in a quick rush, if he got it over with quickly perhaps it wouldn't feel as horrible to talk about as it did. Like with medicine, if you swallowed it quickly hopefully it wouldn't taste as bad. Hiccup didn't think that actually worked but it was always worth a try.

Astrid looked a mix of horrified and confused at the same time, "Who?"

"Riley," Hiccup answered, "Havvick Hoar-Blood's daughter."

Comprehension dawned on Astrid's face along with fresh horror as she gasped and her hands flew to her mouth, "Odin's beard…"

Hiccup shuddered himself as the image of the skinned corpse hanging in the tree flashed through his mind before he pushed it forcefully from his head and focused on other things. Toothless. Flying. Astrid. His Father.

He blinked, thinking of his father reminded him what else he needed to do. What he'd been _ordered_ to do, he thought with a twinge of pride that he instantly felt guilty for. What right did he have to feel pride that he father was using him for his abilities when he was supposed to be looking for Havvick's killer?

More dragons and riders were beginning to arrive by then, his old classmates among them. Word must have already been passed to most of them as most of them looked grim and a few pairs of people here and there looking to be talking and sharing the horrific news.

"Lad," Gobber stated, getting Hiccup's attention, "Did your father say anything else? Any other instructions?"

"Yes," Hiccup answered, "He wants patrols around the island looking for ships and searches across the island to see if we find any camps. He thinks maybe someone that doesn't like us landed in the storm. Do you have any ideas Gobber?"

Gobber stroked his chin as he thought it over, "With the different kinds of fire power it may be an advantage to keep one of each type of dragon in a group."

Astrid nodded, "A Monstrous Nightmare would be good for lighting ships on fire since it has a tendency to splash over things."

"And a Hideous Zippleback would be useful if they've holes up in a cave," Hiccup added with a nod, "The gas would spread though the cave and then they could light it."

"Nadders would be good for chasing them in the forest as agile as they are," Astrid put in next as she and Hiccup bounced back and forth, listing said dragon breeds' advantages.

"The Gronkles would work good on any camps, all they'd have to do is land and smash everything to pieces!" Hiccup added on.

He and Astrid grinned at each other before looking to Gobber to see what he thought of the idea. He looked a little stunned at their rapid back and forth banter before nodding, "Aye, all good points. So groups of four then," He nodded, "Hiccup, I'm going to need you here at the forge…"

Hiccup hesitated, his dad had told him to organize the flyers plus he had been counting on Toothless's speed and agility since the pair of them would have been able to cover ground faster than any one group, "Dad wanted me to organize the search parties-"

"I can do it," Astrid offered, making both man and boy blink at her. She shrugged, "They'll listen to me as well as they would either of you."

Hiccup thought about it before nodding, "I'll speak to them first then help Gobber and leave the rest to you."

She nodded in agreement and gestured outside with a rueful grin, "Then you better get moving."

At least half of the dragons who had riders had returned and words was being passed around in a buzz of whispers. Frequent glances were cast at the smithy as they waited for something to happen. Hiccup glanced at Astrid and nodding in agreement, he sucked in a bracing breath and composed himself, trying to imagine what his father would say as he stepped outside.

"Everyone! One of our own was slain this day, Havvick Hoar-Blood was discoveries by his daughter this morning murdered on our island!" A string of angry murmurs ran through the group at that, "We must find out who did this to one of our own!" A handful of shouts were given in agreement followed by growls of amusement among the dragons, "I want all of you to break into groups of four with at least one of each kind of dragon in each group, that gives you all a variety of fire power for each group!" Nods of agreement were given in the crowd, "Patrols need to go along the coast, they should look for any sort of beached ship or where some could have landed! Ravenscar Hollow and Wolfskull Cove should be searched especially well along with the beaches near Dim Hollow Cave! Sweeps over the island should also be made! Look for camps or signs of people that should be there!" Hiccup pause, "Good luck and may the gods watch over you!"

A shout went up from the assembled Vikings as they began to break off into their groups. Hiccup turned back to Astrid and Gobber to find them looking at him oddly, "What?"

"That was… Very moving Hiccup," Astrid told him with a faint smile as she walked by him heading outside, squeezing his shoulder and kissing his cheek as she passed.

"Well," Gobber said, his voice a little rough, "Let's get to work then."

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><p><strong>I'm alive! Who missed me?<strong>

**Yes, this was a bit of a filler chapter wasn't it? I felt like I wasn't showing enough of the original HTTYD crew with the chapter I had... So it became chapter five and is over half written. I also wanted to show how Hiccup has grown a little bit(in my opinion).**

**There are a couple Skyrim references in there since Skyrim pwns my life a lot... Cookies to anyone who spots them!**

**The 'By Thor's Hammer!' and 'Odin's Beard!' lines I totally pulled out of my love of Thor and The Avengers movies... Tome Hiddleston is totally awesome and I giggle like a teen schoolgirl at the pictures of looking grinning evilly... Totally hot.**

**Also, the same computer that had it's hard drive replaced? The second computer? Yeah, totally having issues. I have determined I'm taking my shotgun and mayhaps my rifle to it when I get my new one. *evil laugh***

**Good news? Chapter five is half done! Now leave a review! It makes me happy! :-D**


	5. Second Strike

**DVP – V – Second Strike**

Killer back winged before landing in the clearing before the Elder's hut. Riley grunted slightly at the impact as she had draped herself over Killer's neck and the front of the saddle to hide her tears. She would have stayed there for a few more moments if Killer hadn't growl warningly.

A sigh escaped the girl as she sat up, expecting to see Killer growling at the Elder as she scrubbed the tears off her face. Lowering her hands Riley blinked and took in the seeming nothingness that Killer had growled it.

Frowning, Riley unclipped herself from the saddle and swung to the ground and walked to stand beside Killer's head. She ran a comforting hand along his muzzle, wrinkled from the curl of his lips as he bared his teeth.

"Hey," She nudged the side of his head with her hip, "Killer, what is it?"

The dragon grumbled in reply and shifted his weight as he swung his head around, scanning the edges of the clearing. Realization dawned on Riley as Killer's nostrils flared repeatedly and he rapidly sucked in air and breathed it back out.

He could _smell_ something.

Normally, Riley would have picked up on her dragon's distress faster, but it had been a trying morning for the girl. Now, her eyes narrowed as she scanned the edges of the clearing and reached for the axe strapped to her back as the silence of the forest around them became apparent.

She could feel it now, eyes boring into her from an unknown source.

Axe in hand and Killer at her back, Riley stalked silently to the Elder's house and opened the door. Her heart pounded with a mix of excitement, fear, and dread as the door creaked open with almost painful slowness.

The heavy, coppery scent of blood hit Riley's hyper charged senses with enough force to cause her to gag at the strength of it. She coughed once before edging the door open further with the edge of her axe blade. The shine of the puddle of blood on the floor caught Riley's attention first as the door opened crept open.

Swallowing down her churning emotions and threat from her stomach, Riley stepped into the hut with her axe raised and ready. The Elder's staff lay a scant few feet away next to her body that was ripped open from navel to throat through her clothes. Riley gasped softly at the sight, while not nearly as gruesome as her father's corpse has been it was still a shock to see.

Berk had not been in a conflict with another Viking village since long before Riley had been born. With their location so far north near the dragons' nest they took the brunt of the combat against the dragons and other villages would go out of their way to ensure Berk continued to bear the brunt of the dragon attacks to keep them from coming to their own villages.

Seeing a human body maimed as if from another _human_ was entirely different than seeing one maimed by dragon teeth and claws.

Holding a hand to her mouth and swallowing rapidly, Riley quickly backed out of the Elder's hut and stood staring inside with muted horror.

_Who could have done something like this? _Why _did they do this?_

Riley thought over and over as she tried to keep her stomach from heaving.

A snarl mixed with a pained squall sounded and Riley whirled around to find Killer half jumping, half falling to the side as the grass at his side turned black with a spray of blood. Blood rushed from Riley's face as she stared in open mouthed horror at the spear protruding from just underneath Killer's wing in his side.

"Killer!" She cried out and left from the hut's porch and sprinted across the yard towards her dragon. Killer had fallen on his side and was repeatedly trying to get up and failing. The dragon groaned and flopped back down, breath heaving wetly as blood trickled from his nostrils.

Riley dropped her axe and skidded to a stop at his head, reaching out to try to turn the big dragon's head towards her. Killer offered a keening wheeze and turned his head to gaze at his human with pain filled eyes that also conveyed all his love, trust, and respect for the girl he had chosen to be his rider.

"No…" Riley whispered, "No, Killer, no… No, no, no, no…" She chanted softly as she read that look before pressing her face against his muzzle and scrunching her eyes shut.

Killer was going to die.

She could feel as well as hear his labored breathing over her quiet sobs. The part of her mind that was still thinking clearing was screaming at her to get up and pick up her axe, whoever speared Killer had to be nearby! The rest of her was too broken, too hurt to even hear that part of herself. First, Riley had lost her father, now she was losing her best friend in the same day.

"Killer, Killer, Killer!" Riley continued to chant softly, "You can't die!" She whispered to him, "You can't leave me too! I need you!" She told him between sobs as tears ran down her face even though she already knew it was too late. The blood coming from his nose meant that the spear had hit his lung, he didn't have long.

The dragon shuddered, then sighed out his last breath as the light left his eyes and they slid closed. The only sound then was Riley's agonized sobs as she wept against the Monstrous Nightmare's scarred muzzle, silently hoping she was wrong about the spear hitting his lung and that he would draw breath again.

Riley didn't know how long she stayed on her knees weeping, it felt like forever.

She finally raised her head, sniffing futilely as snot clogged her nose and tears stained her cheeks. Red, puffy eyes stared unseeingly at Killer's closed eyes and relaxed face. She could almost pretend he was sleeping if it wasn't for the shiny lines of red-black blood running from his nostrils.

Riley tilted her head back to stare at the sky over the trees. Never again would she touch those clouds or feel the wind steal her breath as Killer executed a particularly steep dive. She would never see the sun set from inside the clouds, surrounded by crimson flames stirred by the wind that caressed her with a touch of cold.

Riley would never accept another dragon as a companion, as a friend, as she had Killer.

It wouldn't be fair with Killer constantly living in her memory and being a comparison. It would also hurt too much, to experience flying with another dragon that she had first experienced with Killer and to be reminded of him.

Her eyes returned to said dragon then, staring blankly at him. What would she do now? What should she do for Killer? Did one make a funeral pyre for a dragon?

A low, clicking growl snapped Riley out of her brooding state. Her head whipped sharply around to the direction the growl had come from, wide eyes searching for its source. Scrubbing her eyes free of tears, Riley shakily got to her feet, grasping her axe in the same movement.

Anger pulsed through her then, banishing the sorrow for the moment. Riley let her anger give her new strength as she hefted the axe into a ready position. Whatever had gotten Killer would still be nearby and Riley intended to pay whatever it was back for taking him and her father from her.

Another clicking growl sounded as the air across the clearing from her shimmered before crackling with a thousand tiny lightning strikes. Riley could only stare at the huge man across the clearing from her that she quickly saw wasn't a human man at all.

It looked like something out of a nightmare, a monster.

It was huge, taller than many of the Vikings in the village with none of the fat, muscles stood out in relief against green-brown skin under the plate armor it wore over its vital points. Then, there was the mask over its face. It was a huge, ugly thing that covered the whole front of the massive head somewhat resembled the snarling face of some sort of beast.

Riley was jerked out of her musings as the thing growled and twin blades shot forward from its wrist. She inhaled and tightened her hold on her axe. That was a clear message Riley couldn't ignore, "Come on then," She growled out, "Come and get me!"

That apparently was a clear message to the creature or else it understood her as it lunged towards her with the blades extended. It was _fast_! Riley just barely managed to dodge its first strike and stumble away with wide eyes. The larger the Viking, the slower he was, but apparently that wasn't the case with this creature.

Riley got her axe up to block the next strike the monster made that nearly brought her to her knees. Gritting her teeth Riley shifted her axe to direct the monster's blades away from her with a grunt of effort. Her triumph was short lived as the giant thing back handed her and sent her flying across the clearing.

She struck the ground with a grunt, tightening her hold on her axe reflexively due to years of training. Riley didn't let herself stay down, using the momentum to roll herself to one knee before pushing herself to her feet and bring her axe up at the ready.

The creature hadn't come after her after it had thrown her, which stuck Riley as odd. When you knocked down an opponent, you _finished_ them, whether than meant chopping off a head in battle or simply pinning them to the ground in practice. The fact that this creature did not and instead stood watching her was not normal.

Riley narrowed her eyes as the thing sounded that weird growl again, unsheathing another blade on its other wrist. She had heard a lot of dragons make a lot of different sounds and that still didn't compare to the strange growl this creature made, it sounded like it was _laughing_ at her now.

If she hadn't been sure the thing would have dodged it, Riley would have thrown her axe in hopes of burying it in the ugly mask. Instead, she curled her lips in a sneer at the monster and did her best impersonation of Killer's most threatening hiss.

_That_ seemed to rile the monster right up as the weird hair like mass on the back of its head seemed to grow and arch out behind it, reminding Riley of an angry cat. It snarled then, followed by several clicks and growls that almost sounded like speech.

Riley didn't notice and didn't much care, she wanted this thing's head mounted on a pike. She wanted it to bleed and suffer in payment for taking Killer and her father from her. She wanted it to _hurt_ before it died and she wanted it to die slow. Riley may have been the daughter of a hunter and trained to kill things quickly to avoid suffering, but by this point she didn't much care.

"Come on!" Riley snarled out, brandishing her axe threateningly and taking an aggressive step forward, "Come and get me!"

The monster snarled back and charged forward. Riley followed the suit, keeping low. The thing's reach and, hopefully, lack of flexibility would be its undoing. She knew it was fast, she could only hope it wasn't as fast as it was agile or Riley was done for.

Just as the monster swung at her, Riley hit the dirt and slid between the monster's legs. Using her momentum from the slide, Riley came up behind the monster sweeping her axe up in an arc before her, opening a gash on the monster's unprotected side. Continuing the motion, Riley spun completely around and brought her axe down diagonally in a block to ward off any blow the monster might make.

The roar following her strike was nearly deafening as she put distance between herself and the monster. Riley smirked to herself as she panted, the monster whirled to face her with a snarl, it's mane of hair arcing around it as a bright line of _green_ blood appeared on its side.

That was also really weird to Riley. This thing… What _was_ it? It must be a demon of some sort, something from another world. _Nothing_ Riley had ever seen had bled anything but red. Green? That was unnatural.

"Come on!" Riley snarled again with a bit of a taunting undertone, "Come so I can do it again!"

Shaking it's mane out behind it, the monster growled again as it seemed to consider Riley a moment. The blades of one hand retracted before it reached up and did something to the side of its helmet that made first one hiss, then another. The huge hand covered the bottom part of the mask before lifting it away and hanging it from its belt.

Riley was speechless. The mask had been ugly and horrifying, but now the _face_. There were four clawed _fingers_ set around a pink mouth filled with sharp teeth. There wasn't a nose, there was just a triangle of tannish flesh between the mouth and the eyes. The eyes were the worst Riley decided. Red, like blood, like what blood _should_ look like, surrounded by black flesh that made them all the more intense and all the more horrifying.

When it roared again, all of the fingers spread, revealing the membrane stretched in between them where cheeks would be on a human. The hair-like tentacles surrounding its massive forehead arched again, making it look bigger than it actually was. It didn't fully fold up the fingers around its mouth, keeping them half spread and flexing the shorter upper fingers.

Clenching her jaw, Riley didn't allow herself to move. She had faced down _dragons_. She was _not_ backing down from this thing. Tightening her hold on her axe, Riley waited for it to charge again as a new plan formed in her head. Dragons were smart, not always human-smart, but smart. This thing was at least as smart as Riley herself, it had training, she could see it in the way it moved.

The blade it had retracted extended again as it snarled and charged her again. Riley sucked in a breath of air and leapt forward as well. She kept the blade of her axe up for a downward strike as the monster kept one blade forward and one blade back. Right before she was in striking range of the monster, Riley swung her axe down and planted it in the ground and pushing herself up. She thrust a foot forward, aiming for the monster's face.

Her intention had been to plant a foot on the things big, ugly forehead and get behind it where she could go for its spine. Before Riley's foot could connect with its forehead, the monster cut through her axe's handle then backhanded Riley across the clearing. The blade on the back of its hand opened a long, deep gash on her side and back.

Riley threw a hand out to catch herself before she could reconsider the move. Her momentum rolled her arm and pain flared from her wrist just as the gash on her side registered. Howling in pain, Riley dropped what was left of the handle of her axe to cradle her probably broken arm.

She rolled to her knees, panting before a bruising impact to her uninjured side sent her flying again with a cry of pain. The only thing that kept Riley from flying a good twenty feet was a large tree that she impacted with another cry of pain.

Riley lay stunned on her side, panting heavily before getting her baring and attempting to stager upright. She didn't register the heavy footsteps coming towards her until she saw the blade protruding from her chest. Riley stared at it in muted shock, not feeling it as her vision began to darken.

The sense of being lifted into the air was almost a distant thing for Riley. She knew she was dying as her vision darkening further as she met the monster's eyes. With what last strength she had, Riley curled her lip and offered another weak hiss at the monster as a last effort of defiance as her vision went black.

Riley went limp on the monster's blades as the sound of her hiss faded. She too, had fallen.

* * *

><p><strong>Whew! Sorry for the delay folks! School and work had prior claim to me and this had to be put on the back burner for a while!<strong>

**I actually teared up a little bit at the end there... I was very sad to see Riley and Killer go. D:**

**The good and bad thing about that is that means there are probably only two, possibly three more chapters before the fic ends. I didn't intend for this to be a long story and it's actually already going to be longer than I thought it was going to be! That's a plus, right?**

**I'll update again as soon as I get the next chapter done! :D**


	6. The Calm

**DVP – VI – The Calm**

Hiccup quickly feel into the patterns and mindset required to work the smithy. Hammer this, heat that, stitch this bit of leather, put a new buckle on that strap. It wasn't a hard thing to fall into as often as Hiccup had worked the forge in the past, it came even easier to him than flying did.

Toothless had climbed onto the roof to enjoy the heat from both the forge beneath him and the sun on his spread wings. He would raise his head every once in a while to watch this or that dragon, but otherwise he simply dozed in the sunlight. He would sleep now since he and Hiccup would most likely be flying tonight.

It was easy for Hiccup to get lost in the routine of the work as the hours passed by. The sun was at its zenith and the growl of his stomach was the only thing that alerted Hiccup that he'd worked the morning away. Going to the back of the smithy, Hiccup washed his hands before coming back around to the front of the smithy.

Most of the Vikings who weren't out on patrol had stopped to eat before they returned to the work of preparing the village for battle so the yard in front of the smithy was empty. Hiccup stretched his arms above his head and turned to look at the sleeping form of Toothless draped across the smithy roof like an oversized cat in a comfy chair.

"Hey bud, wake up," Hiccup called up to the dragon. Toothless's earfins perked up as he raised his head, seeing his human up and looking ready to go somewhere Toothless half slid, half jumped off the roof to join him on the ground. Humming a greeting, Toothless nudged Hiccup to make sure his boy hadn't injured himself working the forge, snorting at the scent of burnt metal and fire where Hiccup normally smelled of the sky and leather and Night Fury.

"Yes, I'm fine," Hiccup said, sounding a bit long suffering as he recognized the Night Fury checking him over, "Let's go get some food bud, I'm [i]hungry[/i]," He finished as he moved to Toothless's side. The dragon murmured his agreement and crouched to make it easy for Hiccup to get in the saddle and situated to go.

Strapping himself in and setting his prosthetic foot in the stirrup, Hiccup leaned forward and urged Toothless into the sky. It was a relatively short flight to the half-filled mead hall, but it would have taken Hiccup far longer to walk there himself. Landing on the porch outside, Hiccup swung off Toothless's shoulders and scratched one of the dragon's favorite places behind his earfin, "Thanks bud, enjoy the fish!"

Toothless chirped in agreement as he made his way over to the huge bowls on either side of the mead hall doors that were filled with food for the dragons. A few other dragons were gathered around, either snapping up fish caught that morning or lounging in the midday sun with full bellies. Most present were waiting for their humans to finish eating and go back out again, but a few didn't have saddles and would stay around the village to keep watch and guard. Chirping a greeting to the other dragons, Toothless eagerly dug into the fish.

Hiccup waved as other Vikings called out greetings to him as he made his way to the cooks in the back of the Mead Hall to get his own food. Thanking them for the food and drink, Hiccup sat down at an empty table to attempt to empty his head while he ate.

He didn't have much luck as Astrid and the rest of his wingmates entered the hall and sat down with him after getting their own food. Perking up slightly as Astrid sat beside him, he offered her smile in greeting before he spoke, "How's the patrol coming?"

"Not good," She answered with a sigh, then took a long drink of her mead, "We haven't found anything along the coast. Either the storm washed all the traces or they've been here a while."

Hiccup grimaced at that. He hadn't thought of the intruders having been on the island for a while in the first place, which was worse than them having just arrived. That meant they had been here a while and none of them had noticed and that they had been waiting for the perfect time to attack.

"We'll show them!" Snotlout broke in, trying to impress Astrid still, "Nobody messes with our village and gets away with it!" Hoots of agreement came from the twins, while Fishlegs looked nervous, but in agreement as well.

"I'm going to sleep this afternoon so me and Toothless can fly tonight," Hiccup told his friends after the noise died down, "He's more likely to see them and not be seen-"

"So he can hit them where it hurts!" Toughnut finished for him, smacking a fist into his open palm with a grin.

"They'll never know what hit them!" Roughnet added on with a grin that promised trouble.

Hiccup rolled his eyes at their banter, but grinned himself. He was used to them finishing his sentences on occasion by now, they'd only gotten worse since the village had accepted dragons into their midst. Not that Hiccup minded too much, it was nice having friends besides just Toothless.

"You bet," Hiccup agreed with them, still grinning. The rest of the meal passed in relative silence, with a little small talk here and there but their minds were really on the still unknown invaders.

"Hey," Snotlout spoke up suddenly, "Has anyone seen that Riley-girl since she went up to the Elder's hut?"

There were startled blinks around the table as Snotlout reminded the group of the grief stricken girl. Glances were exchanged amongst the group as each one shook their heads. Hiccup frowned then, something wasn't right. He could understand preparations taking a while, but Riley had wanted the blood of whoever had killed her father, she would have come back to join the hunt.

"I'll go check on her," Astrid offered as she stood up. Pointing at Hiccup, she mock glared at him, "_You_ go get some sleep. You're going to have a long night ahead of you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hiccup answered with a small smile for his girlfriend, "I just gotta go talk to my dad first."

"What for?" Fishlegs asked, curious as to what Hiccup could need now.

"I'm going to see about having some other dragons and Vikings sleep this afternoon so there's other patrols up," He answered as he stood up as well, "Dragons can see better than we can in the dark so it makes sense to have them keeping watch at night."

It wasn't even hard to convince dragons to sleep during the day, especially after they'd been fed. Warm sun, full belly… They were out like a light. If they were roused at dusk and fed a light meal, they'd be good until midnight…

"Shifts," Hiccup said suddenly, "We need to work in about six hour shifts."

His wingmates blinked back at him, "Why six?" Fishlegs asked. They all knew they could handle longer.

"Because that way no one is ever too tired out if we need to fight and there are constant patrols that way," Hiccup answered as he gathered his dishes together to take to the staff in charge of washing dishes that day, "I'm going to find my dad, see you guys later!"

Similar calls followed Hiccup as he hobbled out the door. Astrid was on his heels and caught his elbow before he could get to Toothless, "Hey, be careful out there," She told him softly, before smirking and leaning in for a quick kiss, "Okay?"

Hiccup would probably always be surprised when Astrid kissed him even as he kissed her back. He smiled at her as she broke the kiss, "Okay," He agreed, "You too."

She smiled back at him, though the tender moment was ruined as the rest of their wingmates emerged from the mead hall and immediately started whistling cat-calls. Hiccup gave a sigh and rolled his eyes while Astrid just smirked at them.

"Well," She told them, "If all of you feel this good, maybe we should go do another patrol…"

The twins and Fishlegs quieted at that, but Snotlout only saw another opportunity to impress Astird as he stepped forward, "I'm definitely up for anything you want to do Astrid!"

He just couldn't get the fact that Astrid and Hiccup were together though his skull. Hiccup rolled his eyes, but wasn't too worried about Snotlout stealing his girl. Some days, Hiccup wasn't even sure if Astrid even noticed Snotlout's interest in her anymore.

"Then saddle up and let's go," Astrid answered, throwing a grin Hiccup's way as she strode towards a waiting Twitch, Snotlout hot on her heals. The others had started to follow when Astrid waved them off, "If you guys are done in, go ahead and catch some shut eye. We can handle things for a while."

The twins visibly sagged in relief, obviously going to take advantage of the offer Astrid had made them. Fishlefs fidgeted for a few moments before following the twins' lead to head home to catch some sleep. Twitch and Snotmare took off in a thunder of wings, heading first for the Elder's hut to check on Riley before they took up a patrol route.

Toothless appeared at Hiccup's side as the two dragons with their humans departed. He gave Hiccup a good sniff to inhale the rich scents of human food and human friends before turning to give easy access to the saddle. "Thanks bud," Hiccup told the dragon almost absently as he climbed onto the dragon's back.

He was always grateful for the Night Fury's assistance in getting around since it was harder for him to walk now. Hiccup didn't know how Gobber did it! Clipping himself in, the shift of his weight was signal enough for Toothless to lunge into the sky with a sweep of his wings. The dragon angled to head back to the forge, but Hiccup's shifted weight told him a different destination before his voice did, "Head for the house," Hiccup told Toothless, "You and me are going to catch some shut eye so we can fly at night," A smile warmed Hiccup's voice then, "You're eyes are the best for flying at night Toothless."

A slight vibration signaled Toothless's amusement at that true declaration. He angled his wings and Hiccup worked the leather tail fin while Toothless worked his remaining one. The directional change was effortless and smooth turning the pair towards the chieftain's house for the remainder of a short flight. Toothless back-winged and landed almost on the porch, then crouched to allow Hiccup to slid off.

The boy covered a yawn as he held the door open for Toothless to wiggle in, he hadn't realized how tired he was until he got inside. Only half awake, Hiccup plodded across the room to where his bed had been moved and flopped down. He blinked once, twice, before his eyes drifted closed and Hiccup fell into a dreamless sleep.

Toothless muttered a little as he circled twice on the pile of furs in the corner that served as his bed before curling up to sleep. He gave his own gummy yawn before the dragon's bright green eyes drifted closed and he too fell asleep.

**My dear readers, I really don't have an excuse for why this took me so long. I had some serious writers' block apparently since I haven't been able to work on **_**anything.**_** I can only hope my muse is back for a good long while to see this through!**


	7. The Investigation

**DVP – VII – The Investigation**

"Hey Astrid!" Snotlout called out over the wind and the beat of their dragons' wings. Astrid rolled her eyes, here it comes… "You look like you've been working out! We should work out together sometime!"

Apparently, Snotlout still harbored the hope that they could be a couple.

Astrid grinned where Snotlout couldn't see it and rolled her eyes again. He didn't stand a chance next to Hiccup. Getting to know Hiccup had opened her eyes to being more than just a Viking. Now she had Twitch and Astrid loved her to pieces. Hiccup had shown her how dragons _really_ were and she had seen Hiccup as he was, a dragon tamer.

Sensing her human's amusement, Twitch twitched her head to the side to glance over her shoulder and make an inquisitive noise. She wanted in on the joke too. Astrid grinned in reply and ran a hand down the side of the Nadder's neck in an affectionate gesture that told the dragon not to worry.

"I've been working out with Hiccup!" Astrid called back to Snotlout. It was partly true, they worked out in the air together flying all the time. It wasn't what Snotlout meant and Astrid knew it, but the look of utter disbelief on his face was well worth the statement.

Hiccup might have not looked like it, but he was fast and had a decent amount of stamina. Not as much as she did of course, but definitely more than Snotlout did. He worked on building up his strength and it showed in his top heavy build and muscled arms.

"Oh… Uh… Well… Maybe me and you could work out sometime!" Snotlout called back hopefully.

Astrid rolled her eyes, he just never quit.

Focusing on the clearing they were approaching, Astrid's amused grin faded into a frown. Something was wrong. She could see Riley's Monstrous Nightmare readily enough, but it looked _wrong._ He wasn't moving and his body was laid out in an awkward position and…

That was blood.

Astrid could see it. All around the dragon was the dark, nearly black red of dragon's blood. It was darker than human blood, the fact that it still had a red tint rather than being completely black told Astrid that it probably wasn't even dry. Riley's dragon had been killed very recently.

Twitch squawked and banked sideways sharply as the scent of dragon blood hit her nose. Flapping rapidly, the Deadly Nadder circled the clearing without Astrid's direction rather than land. She knew the scent of death when she smelled it.

Snotmare followed Twitch's lead, a rippling snarl sounding from between his bared teeth. He knew one of his kin had been slain here. Snotlout yelped and grabbed hold of the saddle in front of him at Snotmare's sudden change of direction.

"What was that for!?" He called out, both to Astrid and Snotmare.

"Look!" Astrid snapped back, pointing down into the clearing. How could Snotlout _not_ have seen the blood? Astrid knew he wasn't the brightest Viking in the village, but she hadn't thought he was a complete idiot. Apparently she could be proved wrong.

"Is that… _blood_?" Snotlout's shocked voice called out over the wind.

Astrid shot an irritated glare, glad she had chosen Hiccup who had both a brain and excellent observation skills. Twitch balked when Astrid tried to urge her down to land. The dragon squawked and back-winged to try to twist away from landing, there was death down there and she knew it.

Snotmare had no such reservations and went down willingly at Snotlout's direction. The Monstrous Nightmare was angry about his kin being slain and he wanted blood for blood. He landed heavily, uttering an angry snarl and made his way towards Killer without even waiting for Snotlout to get down.

"Hey!" Snotlout yelped, "At least wait for me to get down!"

"Don't!" Astrid called out to him as Twitch reluctantly followed Snotmare to the ground. She kept her wings half spread and her movements were sharp in preparation to spring into the air at a moment's notice. "Stay on your dragon! We need to be ready to leave in a hurry!"

Astrid had her axe drawn and held at the ready. They had only just begun to practice combat from a dragon's back very recently as the threat of attack from less dragon-loving Vikings became more apparent. While Berk didn't want to fight with any one-time allies, they would do so to defend their home and their new allies they had found in the dragons.

The living Monstrous Nightmare crooned softly to Killer, nudging the other dragon sadly. There had been losses when the dragons and Vikings fought each other of course, but this was different. Against the Vikings, they had _fought_ against them. Killer's death… There wasn't even any blood or battle wounds on his hide.

"Do you see Riley anywhere?" Astrid asked, her voice quiet as she took notice that the forest around them was silent. Something was wrong.

"No," Snotlout answered after a moment, his eyes scanning the clearing the same way Astrid's were, "Is that patch of blood brighter over there?" He pointed to a place to the side of them.

"Yeah," Astrid's eyebrows knit together in confusion, "What is that green stuff there?" Her voice was puzzled and she urged Twitch towards the spot on foot, not willing to get off the dragon and lose her escape route into the air.

Twitch's hiss said very clearly that she did _not_ like this idea, but went anyway. Her steps were slow and her legs stiff as she swung her head from side to side to get a good look at everything, even the blind spot directly in front of her. Sliding slowly closer, Twitch lived up to her name with frequent muscle twitches and her head jerking towards any slight scent, sound, or glint in the grass.

The hair on the back of Astrid's neck was standing up at Twitch's behavior. Dragons weren't scared of much. The fact that Twitch was very afraid of whatever was going on told Astrid that there was something very, very wrong.

Astrid squinted at the strange splash of green on the grass. It _looked_ like a blood splatter, but it was green, it couldn't be blood. Astrid scowled at the weird splatter, wondering briefly if it was something the Elder had concocted for a potion.

Twitch had noticed the patch of bright green then and balked at going any closer, uttering a squawk of fear. She refused to get any closer to the patch of bright green and instead veered to the side, twitching worse than before with only Astrid's firm hand on the dragon's neck keeping her from flinging herself back into the sky.

"Snotlout!" Astrid called out to get the boy's attention, "Come and look at this!" On top of wanting to know what, if anything Snotlout knew, Astrid also wanted to see how Snotmare would react. Twitch's reaction was unnerving to say the least, Snotmare was steadier than Twitch was and Astrid wanted to see if he spooked at the weird green patch too.

Snotlout frowned, but urged his angry, snarling dragon over towards Astrid. Snotmare was watchful, but angry where Twitch had been nervous. The big dragon's lips were pealed back from his teeth and a steady, rumbling growl coming from his chest as he prowled forward. He caught the sight and scent of the patch of brighter green before Snotlout did and let loose a snarl of fury as he lunged forward towards the spot.

An undignified yelp of surprise came from Snotlout as he grabbed for the front of the saddle yet again as Snotmare crouched over the splash of green. Deep, furious breaths of the Nightmare scenting the strange green substance was the only sound that could be heard in the clearing before his head swung around to the side and he snarled at the empty air.

A rippling growl answered Snotmare's snarl, causing both Snotlout and Astrid to tense at the alien sound. It didn't sound like anything they'd ever heard before and they had heard their dragons make some odd sounds since they had come to live in Berk.

"What is it boy?" Snotlout asked unnecessarily, his voice belaying his nerves.

"Shh!" Astrid hissed angrily as she tightened her hold on her axe. Only the firm grip Astrid had with her knees kept Twitch from springing into the air as she practically shook with fear. Astrid's heart was racing as well, though she kept her own fear of the unknown threat squashed firmly down. It wouldn't do for Twitch to pick up on Astrid's fear, that would send the dragon into flight without a doubt.

Snotmare was not waiting for his human or Twitch's human to decide what to do, he knew danger and death. Much to his human's surprise, Snotmare opened his mouth and loosened a gout of clinging flame. He swung his head in an arc to encompass several of the tree and not risk missing the death he could smell, but not see.

Snotlout once again uttered a yelp of surprise, "What are you doing?!" He demanded of his dragon over the roar of the flames, "We can't just set trees on fire!"

Astrid, on the other hand, had no complaints of Snotmare setting a few trees on fire. Trees grew back, there was a good chance that the dragon had gotten whatever was there, and nothing said something was wrong and brought people running faster than a pillar of smoke. Being as the village's dragons no longer did nefarious things such as lighting things on fire, this would be a beacon to the whole island.

Twitch jerked violently to the side with a squawk of fear and saved both herself and Astrid from a double ended spear that buried itself into the ground. Years of training took over as Astrid determined where the spear had come from and hurled her axe at the spot without thinking.

Bright green sprayed forth as the axe buried itself in something that gave a pained snarl. Astrid's eyes widened as what looked to be hundreds of tiny lightning strikes flashed to expose what appeared to be a strangely armored, strangely colored man. This was no man like Astrid had ever seen though, it bled green for one and it was huge, bigger than most of the Vikings she had ever seen.

The axe she had thrown was buried in its gut, just barely missing a plate that was obviously meant to protect the heart. It shook its head and uttered a very unhuman-like snarl as it grasped and pulled her axe from its belly with a spray of bright green blood, bringing a wave of stink that told Astrid that the wound was likely a fatal one. Belly wounds were like that, this thing might try to fight on still, but it was done for.

Snotmare had noticed the monster by then and snarled angrily as it appeared that he had missed it. He flared his wings out and rattled his spines for intimidation and loosened another gout of flame. The death monster just barely managed to leap out of the way, then staggered as it landed a safe distance away.

"Whoa! What it that thing!?" Snotlout asked, making Astrid vow to punch him in the face for unnecessary talking during battle of all things.

She didn't bother to answered, having thrown her axe she was now concerned with her lack of weapon. Astrid's eyes then lit on the monster's own weapon it had thrown at her and immediately urged Twitch within grabbing distance. The dragon hissed and sidled over so Astrid could grab the pointy stick, making sure she stayed facing the monster.

Astrid wrenched the spear out of the ground, wishing for an instant that she had trained with more of a variety of weapons. The monster was attempting to stagger to its feet as Astrid drew back and let the spear fly. Her aim was true and her arm strong as it impaled it between the shoulders.

The second wound was enough and it toppled forward bonelessly. Dead.

"All right!" Snotlout cheered, "You got it!"

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief and slouched slightly, before urging Twitch towards the thing. The dragon hissed, not liking the order, but obeying her human anyway. Twitch didn't get too close though and stopped her tail length away and refused to move any further.

"Alright," Astrid murmured and swung down from her back, "You watch my back the girl." She whispered, using a bit of humor to ease her own nerves. Her hand still shook slightly when she brushed it affectionately against the side of Twitch's neck. The dragon made a worried sound in reply, remaining watchful for other danger around the clearing.

Snotmare was not nearly so cautious, he stalked forward with heavy steps and bared teeth. All of his attention was on the dead killer of his kin and on making sure that it was really and truly dead. His human shifted where he still sat on his back, nerves probably, before speaking, "What is that thing?"

"I don't know," Astrid answered, "I'm getting my axe, then we're going back down to tell the village and get people up here." She didn't know what was going to happen. This was bad; really, really, bad. Astrid didn't know who they would go to for advice or information on what to do. They would have asked the Elder, but she was likely as dead as Riley and Killer. Astrid wasn't going to waste time checking though, there would be time for that when they got more of the villagers up here.

Astrid's hand closed around the handle of her axe when an ear-splitting screech had her whirling around just in time to get sprayed with Twitch's blood. The point of a spear sprouted from the dragon's chest as she fell and didn't move. Astrid could only stand there in shock, staring at the lifeless form of her dragon.

What should have been a teeth rattling roar from Snotmare was oddly muted as she felt a sting of pain at her throat, then nothing…

* * *

><p><strong>Yep. It's a cliffhanger. <strong>

**I really did that.**

** I'm even laughing about it even while I know some of you are probably foaming at the mouth or tearing your hair out to know what happens.**

**I'm laughing even more now.**

**How I'm writing the Predators, as a big Unknown to the Vikings, is influenced from the Jaws movie from 1975. A big part of the success of that movie was how little the mean ole shark actually appeared which unintentionally played on humans' fear of the unknown. Spielburg's shark for Jaws actually suffered several problems during filming and the reason we see so little of it is because it didn't do too well in the sea. Today a computer model would be made and put in, but Spielburg actually had life sized shark models on location on the Atlantic rather than be in a Hollywood tank. **

**Jaws is one of my favorite movies if you can't tell. Along with How to Train Your Dragon, Predators, Avatar, Reign of Fire, Secondhand Lions, Avengers, Shrek, and a whole hoard of others.**

**Okay, I'm done rambling now.**

**Thanks for reading! Leave any questions/comments/reviews/short stories/tall tales/cookies/secrets/cheat codes/ice cream and I'll get to it soon!**


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